2015 Volume 41 Pages 92-108
The purpose of this study is to clarify the role of the school board in expanding education for foreign children in Japanese public schools.
The education policies related to foreign children in Japan, mainly serve the purpose of supporting children's entry to elementary schools or junior high schools and for teaching Japanese as a second language. On the other hand, at the national level, the concrete education policies that immigrant nations adopt do not exist in Japan, for example policies on second language education, improving students' achievement, and the way to guarantee rights on ethnic education for foreign children under the compulsory education system which educates the nation.
Therefore I focused on the role of the local school board to examine the possibility of guaranteeing or improving the academic achievement of foreign children especially in learning Japanese as a second language. As an example, I chose the policy adopted by the school board in Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture. To analyze the characteristics of these policies, I quoted the analysis framework of international investigation that OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) investigated from the viewpoint of emigrant education policy analysis, that is “OECD Reviews of Migrant Education, Closing the Gap for Immigrant Students: Policies, Practice and Performance”.
As a result of the analysis, I found that the role of the school board in Matsusaka City in expansion of education for foreign children is to bring about“ the spread” and “the guarantee of the quality”. “The spread” was carried out from two directions, namely, the spread of the practice for many schools and the common understanding between teachers or the people concerned. “The guarantee of the quality” was carried out from two directions, namely, the guarantee of the quality of educational practices and the professional teaching skill of teachers.
As a result of example analysis of Matsusaka City, what became clear was that it may guarantee “an opportunity to access the fundamental education” for foreign children, if it is supported by statutory grounds at a national level, but it cannot necessarily guarantee “the quality of education” for foreign children. The reason is because what kind of education and teaching systems are necessary differ according to the residence situation of the foreigner (for example, whether they are living concentratedly or dottedly, whether they are permanent residents or not, and whether they are multilingual). Therefore I concluded that the role of local school boards especially at a city level that can achieve “the spread of and the guarantee of the quality of” education for foreign children is to make policies based on the residence situation of the foreigner.
